


Retrieval

by Merfilly



Series: To Build A Future [5]
Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-18
Updated: 2011-09-18
Packaged: 2017-10-23 20:22:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/254603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Megatron is on Earth to obtain Soundwave.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Retrieval

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Takes place in an AU inspired by the Novelization of _Dark of the Moon_
> 
> 2\. Runs side by side with Patronus, though some details may not dovetail perfectly. This is due to the differences in 'Con and 'Bot perspectives.

The blinking server rack was innocuous enough to first sight. Megatron would even give his lieutenant compliments for the security surrounding those servers and communication arrays. However, Megatron was not going to be denied entry, though he did wait for night, and attempted to be stealthy in his breach of the security. He did not want more organics to break into their component parts, as that would start new hostilities with his brother.

There was no doubt now, though, that Soundwave was not operating at full capacity. With a grimace for the need, Megatron hardwired into the server array, fending off the automatic attack with ease. Much as he despised linking himself that closely to any other being outside of _limited_ instances, Soundwave had obviously only identified him as a Cybertronian threat via his weakened sensor net.

::Fool,:: he sent via the hard connection, all of his mastery of others, his power, in those glyphs. He savored the respite from powerful firewall attacks as Soundwave analyzed the stream.

::Megatron.:: The identification was with surprise. Given that all the organic news had reported him destroyed as part of the agreement for withdrawal and ceasefire, Megatron was not surprised. He still was amused that the pitiful wretches needed that false report to be able to move forward with their squalid lives.

::You doubt,:: Megatron growled as he sensed the gathering of stronger attack protocols behind the firewall separating Soundwave's core being from him. The Lord High Protector detected one of the rudimentary sensors Soundwave had in the room around the server rack and targeted it with the distinct hum of his fusion cannon as the direct warning.

::Identity confirmed,:: the communicator quickly said, showing enough transparency in his processes to allow Megatron to see the attacking protocols be dismissed.

::Now… this is a fine mess you've gotten us into, Soundwave,:: Megatron sent with a touch of amusement, before he flashed everything that began with Sentinel bracing Optimus in battle into a high speed data transfer to bring his lieutenant up to date. Of course, he edited it all to make himself appear stronger than he actually had been immediately after the battle, but what Soundwave did not know meant an advantage for Megatron in the long run.

Soundwave took his time processing the file, while Megatron remained immobile, studying everything in the array, in the sensors, preparing for the revolt when it came. Soundwave had been too committed to the cause to accept this truce without question. When Megatron realized that Soundwave had no true method of attacking him here, he realized that he would not be able to trust anything until Soundwave was repatriated to his proper form.

With a bitter, private laugh in his own processor, he realized that 'trust' and any of his followers were not a concept he truly could have, ever.

`~`~`~`~`

Soundwave hated for plans to go astray. He had prided himself on playing the long game, of setting things in motion that would benefit himself and his small entourage of symbionts. Having a strong position within the Fallen's views of their species' destiny had been his early motivation. With the Fallen's destruction, he had done all he could to shape Megatron's plans to continue on the path of a Decepticon destiny worthy of their might.

His anger at what had happened after the destruction of his shell left Soundwave momentarily incapable of rendering data pulses into proper communication, a fact he would be glad for once he was calculating odds again. In his current state, he could not affect Megatron. No, for that he would have to finish integrating into his orbital frame, and then confront the mech directly.

His sensors here gave him a complete analysis of his so-called leader. Megatron had not had all the cosmetic damage fixed, but Soundwave sensed that all the system damage had been repaired completely. That meant Megatron was fighting fit, and Soundwave had never been able to withstand him directly.

However, Megatron had made an error. In directly connecting to Soundwave's current location, he had arrogantly thought his firewalls could withstand anything. And, truthfully, Soundwave's full attacks were stymied by the younger mech's defenses. They had merely been diversions, though, allowing Soundwave's smaller sleeper programs to slip past, as no mech could be completely impenetrable.

`~`~`~`~`

::Initiating re-integration of personality core to primary frame,:: Soundwave finally said, without offering any comment on the contents of the data transfer.

::Upon completion, rendezvous with me at the gamma coordinates,:: Megatron ordered, preparing to leave. The warrior mech removed his connection from the server array, turning to leave the human building, eager to be free of the stink of the organisms that surrounded him here. The site he had designated as their rendezvous point was far more suitable to his needs, being in the midst of the Salt Flats and mostly cleansed of the constant incursion of carbon-based lifeforms.

`~`~`~`~`

The process of rejoining his frame was a long one, relying on the slower transmission rates of the human based technology. Soundwave would not leave himself open to being hacked, and that required a constant vigilance over both ends of the process.

That did not mean he was not planning, reaching out, manipulating events as he was able. And even though Soundwave did not believe in luck, there was a stroke of fortune for him waiting in the distance as he resumed operations at the satellite he had taken control of in orbit for his frame.

::Decepticon signal perceived; designation required.::

::Designation Astrotrain. Function, combat transportation. Responding to muster call by Starscream.::

::Starscream's functions discontinued.::

There was a long pause as the shuttle on the other end of the link determined a new course of action. Starscream had overcome every single Seeker who ever tried to remove him from the Air Command. He had also bullied, bribed, or cajoled the rest of the fixed wing fliers into supporting the smaller fliers in their domination of the army.

::New Air Commander?::

Soundwave knew from the data feed that Thundercracker held them in check, mostly because he had Skywarp's assassination skills to rely on, much as Starscream had early in the war. That did not preclude a change in hierarchy, if Soundwave was successful.

::That could be you, if you want it.::

The surge of ambition and power along the link let Soundwave know his thrust had connected perfectly.

`~`~`~`~`

Megatron did not waste his time as he waited for Soundwave to return to the surface. His careful planning since being reawakened from deactivation at the bottom of the ocean had led to his stockpiling information and materials in key places. Using stealth and constant vigilance, he began retrieving these resources, bringing them to the one central location. Some of them, such as the broken pieces of mechs destroyed here, or the unfinished shells of the hatchlings that had failed to thrive he considered donating to the Autobots rather than waste energy on lifting the mass, even sub-spaced. However, they had already salvaged most of the Decepticon deactivated soldiers and drones and even the battle platform and were less likely to need this than his own rag-tag bunch of survivors.

The information, data that had been scrounged from several unlikely locations around the world, was actually Starscream's doing, rather than Soundwave's. The Seeker had been forced to perform certain duties for the Fallen that had led to having a greater awareness of where Cybertronian artifacts and history had been left on this planet. While Starscream had intended to keep them from Megatron as well, that plan had failed on the first time Megatron had asserted his own dominance over the Seeker, reclaiming what had been his since long before the war had come to full blows.

With the data, incomplete as it was, Megatron would find a new way to either harness an energy source or recreate the Allspark itself.

`~`~`~`~`

The breech of the atmosphere was done in full sight of NEST satellites, and the Autobots prepared to react. Optimus Prime designated Sideswipe leader of the response, and was approving the use of lethal force if the Decepticon failed to surrender when he felt Megatron's touch along his bond.

::You did harangue me for being so dismissive of sparks, brother. This one is mine, and I will tend to it,:: Megatron growled, reading all the intent from Optimus's battle-state.

::Are you spying on me, brother?:: Optimus accused, but at the same time, he could not help but feel hope. He would not risk his own mechs, and Megatron was learning mercy as well as responsibility.

::The arrogant glitch made sure to get my attention.:: With that, the link severed, and Optimus began the process of dismantling the response team, to Lennox's deep confusion.

`~`~`~`~`

Megatron spun and landed an elbow into the midsection of the intruder's armor, continuing in motion to avoid the counter of a heavy arm swing downward. The warrior mech was full of rage, and his cannon pulsed twice as he got a good vantage. His opponent roared in pain as one of the two shots landed, albeit with less effect than Megatron could have wanted in battling this mech.

Slagging transports and their mass, he irritably complained in the sanctity of his own processors. It made them more resistant to his sheer power, and allowed them the stamina to keep up with him. Still, he was Megatron, Lord High Protector of Cybertron, the mech that had brought an entire system to its knees! Nothing could defeat him (as he refused to dwell on boys with powerful artifacts or enraged Primes), certainly not a simple transporter!

The next trade of blows sent the transporter down on his hands and knees before hastily rolling away from the disabling stomp that followed. Megatron could see the sneer, knew the transport was thinking Megatron weak for not using his blade in that vulnerable moment. How foolish the flier was!

As Megatron maneuvered to tighten the distance between them, his HUD displayed a sudden warning of servo failure in his right leg. It was just enough warning for him to push his weight to the left, splaying out the claws of his pede for better balance. On cue, though, the transport rushed him, and it took Megatron down, putting him at a disadvantage in the fight. He called up the fusion cannon for support, and found the firing controls offline.

Two system failures so close together was not natural. With a roar of rage, he instituted a scan of his processors, his autonomic functions, and simultaneously activated a failsafe mechanism to take his central tactical processor out of the circuit, falling back on a more rudimentary system to handle the fight. It was able to reroute firing control for him, and before the transport could bring his energy spear down, Megatron fired at closer range than he would have wanted, knocking the transport back and down from the sheer concussive force married to the hole punched through the transport's shoulder and wing behind it.

::SOUNDWAVE!:: Megatron bellowed in anger and betrayal, expected as it had been.

Laser fire from a different vector was his answer, and Megatron found himself facing not one but two threats to his survival, as the analytic lieutenant decided to join the fight more openly. Megatron growled, forcing his right leg to obey the primitive back up system he had to rely on while his anti-virus programs worked against Soundwave's intrusions. If they were both going to be idiots and refuse to see his vision, Megatron would beat obedience back into both of them. Even if it deactivated one or more of the three of them.

`~`~`~`~`

"Do you truly think the Autobots will be able to accept peace anymore than our own will?" Megatron asked as he soldered new connections in his ankle. Across from him, Soundwave was attempting to reattach his entire leg, just below the hip.

"I do not understand. You have chosen defeat." Soundwave looked to where his ally of the moment was settling into self-imposed stasis, to allow repairs at the nanite level to proceed.

"You do not understand because you cannot see through the deceptions we fostered on ourselves," Megatron told him. "We are meant to rise above all others, to rule and hold that which we conquer. But the Fallen," and Megatron paused long enough to add the glyphs for so many insults to that designation, "was deluded in his belief that our own race was part of what had to be overcome, tainted by his dealings with the other Primes."

"Autobots are ancestral enemies. The dichotomy of power between Protector and Prime is part of the legacy of the division."

Megatron's optics glowed vividly. "We are all one race," he hissed. "The most recent phase of war has had one true result that I will now make use of, Soundwave. The Autobots have learned war in its fullest form. They have violence etched into their sparks now. And once Cybertron is restored, I will use that fact against them all. I will call them to my banner, and lead all of them to take our rightful place in the galaxy."

"Optimus Prime will resist."

"Optimus, my lieutenant, is more etched in my violence than you can fathom."

Silence fell from there, and Megatron continued his repairs with the sweet savoring of just how much his Prime had been shaped by Megatron's own actions and feelings.

`~`~`~`~`

 _Refer to the Epilogue of Patronus, found[here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/220321/chapters/393034) for one last scene on Earth._


End file.
